Program Description
New Perspectives talks are opportunities for emerging scholars to conduct research and give a
public talk on the Museum’s collection. The paid talks are given by graduate students in Arts &
Sciences and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual and focus on one or more works from the
collection, aligning with the students’ own expertise and scholarly interests.
Call for Proposals
The Kemper Art Museum seeks proposals for New Perspectives talks in the 2023–24 academic
year. This program comprises gallery talks on works in the Museum’s permanent collection.
Students may choose any group of objects (ideally one to five artworks) from the permanent
collection about which to prepare a focused and interactive 45-minute gallery talk. This will
allow students to research objects that support disciplinary and/or cross-disciplinary connections with aesthetics, art history, material culture, and the humanities more broadly. Students are encouraged to research works not often on view in the galleries. Accepted speakers may be invited to contribute explanatory object labels on works they have discussed. These one-time gallery talks will take place in the Museum galleries, with the possibility of bringing additional artworks out of storage to put on easels. The public talks are designed to be informal and to engage both specialist and non-specialist audiences. Selected speakers will work with a museum educator to prepare their talk.
New Perspectives talks are offered once per semester. Proposals are open to postdoctoral
fellows, but graduate students will have priority. New Perspectives talks have been given by
graduate students in architecture, art history, Hispanic studies, and social work, among other
disciplines. Proposals should list very specifically the works in the Museum’s collection that
will be addressed and outline how the talk engages with the student’s academic research.
Honorarium: $175. Please note that writing object labels will not receive any additional
payment.
Applicants should email a short proposal (300–400 words) and CV to Meredith Lehman, PhD,
(lehman.meredith@wustl.edu). Proposals are due June 12, 2023. Applicants are encouraged to explore the Museum’s collection at https://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/explore.